A construction worker called in a bomb threat to a contracting firm working at the GlobalFoundries Fab 8 site on Monday, Dec. 9, 2013, forcing 3,000 construction employees off the campus and suspending construction operations for the day. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

A construction worker called in a bomb threat to a contracting firm working at the GlobalFoundries Fab 8 site on Monday, Dec. 9, 2013, forcing 3,000 construction employees off the campus and suspending ... more

Bomb threat jolts GlobalFoundries

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Malta

An electrician's apprentice working at GlobalFoundries left a note there saying bombs were on the Fab 8 site, forcing 3,000 construction employees off the campus and suspending construction operations for the day.

Robert Thomas allegedly posted a note somewhere in a common area at the chip fab plant's construction site that said explosives were on the scene. The threat was spotted sometime before 9:45 a.m., said Travis Bullard, a GlobalFoundries spokesman.

Thomas, 25, of Glenville, was charged with falsely reporting an incident, a felony that carries a maximum four-year prison sentence. He was arraigned in Malta Town Court and sent to the Saratoga County jail without bail.

Why Thomas allegedly posted the threat was unclear.

GlobalFoundries will resume its construction operations at the multi-billion dollar site Tuesday, Bullard said.

The chip fab plant is expanding its facilities and building a 565,000-square-foot, $2 billion Technology Development Center next to its current factory. The new development center will be used to develop and perfect new chip designs and manufacturing processes before they launch into full-scale production.

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The company's manufacturing arm, which employs about 2,200 people, was not affected by Monday's threat, Bullard said.

In 2011, GlobalFoundries was the scene of a violent attack by a electrical worker who had just been laid off.

In that case, Eddie Robinson came back to the Fab 8 site two weeks after he was laid off and attacked four workers from Ducci Electrical of Waterford, Conn.

The Albany man hit at least one man in the face with a fire extinguisher, was charged with assault and ultimately pleaded guilty to attempted assault. Robinson was sentenced in January to 7 years in prison, according to the Saratoga County District Attorney's Office.